Clinical experience with controlled expansion cylinders. The AMS 700 CX inflatable penile prosthesis

Device manufacturers continue to look for modifications in design to achieve specific objectives directed at improving overall reliability. Changes in design that do not address this extremely significant concern, namely, device reliability, fail in their commitment toward improvement in patient satisfaction. One of the most effective ways to assess the benefits provided by any change in device design is through the clinical trial and study group method, utilizing a large number of implanting surgeons from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of patients. The results of the clinical trials with the AMS 700 CX cylinders were extremely encouraging. More importantly, the findings of the study group and our own findings have been substantiated through widespread clinical application among an even larger number of implanting physicians. Device reliability should continue to be under serious scrutiny. We, as implanting physicians, are constantly being asked by our patients, "How long can I expect this device to function?" The answer can only be given on the basis of reports such as this and others that address the results of implantation in a series of patients who are followed appropriately year after year. Each year these reports, if brought up to date, will become even more meaningful. Meanwhile, new designs continue to be evaluated in the laboratory and will become a reality only through the suggestions provided by implanting surgeons, whose observations, when relayed to the manufacturer, enable the design engineer to address the specific concerns of both patient and physician. The AMS 700 CX inflatable penile prosthesis with its new controlled expansion cylinders has certainly addressed those concerns for the present.